Display mount for artificial teeth



y 1941- M. R. STEIN 2,243,583

DISPLAY MOUNT FOR ARTIFICIAL TEETH Filed July 20, 1959 INVENTOR.

MICHAEL RUSSELL STEIN Patented May 27, 1941 2,243,583 DISPLAY MOUNT FOR ARTIFICIAL TEETH Michael Russell Stein, New York, N.

to Universal Dental Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Y., assignor Company, Philadelphia,

Application July 20, 1939, Serial No. 285,547

1 Claim.

best advantage,

Heretofore and prior to this invention it has been the more or less common practice for the manufacturers of artificial teeth to mount a set of such teeth upon a card or other suitable support in such manner that the teeth were disposed in a common substantially flat plane. Inasmuch as these teeth when set in the mouth are normally disposed in a curved plane, the visual aspect thereof when viewed on the mounting card differed materially from that obtained when the same teeth are viewed properly set in the mouth. This is primarily due to the fact that all artificial teeth, being so molded or shaped as to give off certain characteristic light reflections, when mounted in a flat plane necessarily provide an entirely diiferent appearance than when the same are mounted in a curved plane.

Having in mind the foregoing, it is among the principal objects of the present invention to provide a carding device or tooth mounting for artificial teeth wherein the latter are mounted upon a curved or arched surface so that when such teeth are viewed on the mount they more closely simulate in appearance the natural teeth which they are intended to replace.

Further, by the provision of a mounting card having such arched support for the teeth the light reflecting properties of the latter are better revealed, the true characteristics of one tooth in relation to its next adjoining or proximate tooth may be better observed, and the purchaser of the artificial tooth is better enabled to visualize the appearance as it will ultimately appear in the mouth, all because the relative disposition of the artificial teeth on the arched supporting surface of the card more closely approximates and simulates that actually prevailing in the mouth than if the teeth were mounted in a fiat plane in the conventional manner.

While it is among the primary objects of the present invention to provide the mounting card with an upwardly curved or arched surface as distinguished from a fiat surface, a further and important object of the invention is to provide a mounting surface of such arched configuration that it lends itself readily to the mounting of artificial tooth sets of varying overall lengths. Thus, as is well known in the art to which this invention pertains, artificial teeth are classified according to size, certain teeth of the same type being of different width. Inasmuch as it is customary to card upon a single mount a set of six anterior teeth, and inasmuch as these sets are manufactured in different overall widths, it is of decided advantage to provide a single mountingwhich is capable of accommodating the widest as well as the narrowest set of teeth, without, at the same time, requiring any of the teeth to assume such position on the mount as would defeat the real objectives of the present invention. Accordingly, the arched mounting surface of the card is preferably, though not necessarily, of generally parabolic shape, this latter shape being preferred because it is such that the opposite extremities of the arch do not curve downwardly too abruptly and so present in full face view those teeth which are disposed at either extremity of the mountedset.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter, it being.

understood that the present invention consists generally in the combination,construction, location and relative arrangement of parts, all as described hereinafter, as shown in the accompanying drawing, and as finally pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates certain preferred embodiments of the present. invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a set of teeth disposed upon a display mount constructed in accordance with and embodying the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the display mount per se;

Figure 3 is a side elevation View of the unit shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a side elevation view of the mount per se; p

Figure 5 is a top plan View thereof; Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view of the display mount shown in Figure 3;

Figure 7 is a side elevation view of modified form of display mount; and

Figure 8 is a side elevation View of still another modified form of the display mount.

Referring now to the drawing and more particularly to Figures 1 to 6 thereof which illustrate a preferred form of display mount constructed in accordance with and embodying the principles of the present invention, it will be observed that the mount l0 generally consists of a substantially flat base H from the upper surface of which rises a pair of laterally spaced parallel members l2-|2 which form between them a channel l3 extending longitudinally of the base. For reasons indicated above and which will be pointed out more fully hereinafter, the vertically disposed members l2-l2 are so designed or shaped that their upper free edges are each of arched configuration, preferably in the form of a parabolic curve.

As appears most clearly in Figure 6, the display mount including the base H and the channel forming members l2--l2 may be formed as an integral unit out of any suitable material. Thus, it may be shaped out of wood or it may be cast or molded out of metal or a plastic ma terial, such as Bakelite or the like. On the other hand, the members l2-l2 may be separately formed and secured to the base II in any suitable manner to form the arcuate channel l3. While Figures 2 and 6 show the channel 13 as being relatively shallow in depth and having a bottom M of arcuate shape, it will be understood that the depth of the channel may be increased as desired to the point where the bottom of the channel is formed by the upper flat surface of the base member I I.

To complete the display mount so that it is available for use, the channel I3 is filled with a penetrable filler [5 preferably composed of wax or other suitable material of a consistency into which the pins of the artificial teeth may be embedded and by which such teeth may be demountably attached in place, the channel being so filled with the wax that the upper surface thereof is disposed in an arcuate plane flush with the exposed arcuate edges of the channel side members l2-I2. Thus, in the form of the unit shown in Figures 1 to 6 the upper exposed sur face of the wax filler is arched along a substantially parabolic curve and is adapted to receive a set of anterior teeth designated generally by the reference numeral l6. To mount the teeth in position it is only necessary to press the same firmly into the wax filler l5 so as to embed the tooth pins and inner surfaces of the teeth into the filler.

By so mounting the set of teeth upon the arched surface of the wax filler, the several teeth of the set assume an angular relationship relatively to each other which more or less closely approaches or simulates that existing between corresponding natural teeth in the mouth. Thus, the characteristic light reflecting properties of the artificial teeth while mounted upon the display mount are better revealed, and the characteristics of each in relation to its next adjoining or proximate tooth is better observed.

By providing a parabolic curvature to the exposed surface of the wax filler, it will be apparent that none of the teeth and particularly those at either extremity of the mounted set are disposed at too sharp an angle with respect to the plane of the base ll of the mount. Consequently, the observer obtains a full face view of all of the teeth of the set. Also, due to the fact that the parabolic curve is characterised in that the opposite extremities thereof have a very gradual curve, regardless whether or not the entire arched surface of the wax filler is required to be used to support a full set of teeth, none of them is so sharply related angularly with respect to each other or to the plane of the base I I as to possibly cause to be obtained a distorted view thereof when the mounted teeth are observed in the normal manner.

It will be understood, of course, that the arched configuration of the mounting surface of the wax filler may be other than of parabolic curvature. Thus, Figure 7 illustrates a display mount wherein the mounting surface I! is shaped as the arc of a circle, while in Figure 8 the mounting surface I8 is composed of a series of successive fiat surfaces l8a, l8b, I80, 18d, I8e and I8 which are so angularly related relatively to each other as to provide in effect the equivalent of a curved arch, each flat surface being adapted to receive one of the teeth of the set to be mounted. It will be understood, therefore, that various arched configurations may be provided for the mounting surface of the wax filler IS without departing from the general principles or real spirit of the present invention and accordingly it is intended to claim the same broadly as well as specifically as indicated in the appended claim,

What is claimed as new and useful is:

A display mount for artificial teeth comprising a main body member having a fiat supporting base and an elongated channel member having parallel side walls rising from said base and extending longitudinally thereof and positioned thereon to provide laterally projecting flanges extending perimetrally about the base of said channel member, the free upper edges of the channel walls being of arched configuration and terminating substantially at the base, said walls being relatively spaced apart a distance less than the length of a tooth to provide laterally spaced rigid supports for a single row of teeth each of which is supported transversely across said channel edges and to insure projection of the incisal edges of the teeth beyond one side of said channel and in spaced relation to the supporting base, and a body of pliable wax material filling said channel and adapted to have embedded therein an intermediate part of each supported tooth, the exposed surface of said wax filler being disposed substantially in the plane of said arched edges of the channel walls whereby said wax serves to retain the teeth in position extending transversely across the upper edges of said channel walls.

MICHAEL RUSSELL STEIN. 

